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Avangrid Transforms Field Operations with Generative AI

25/03/2025

Generative AI solution built with Amazon Bedrock helps technicians quickly find and resolve challenges at operating wind facilities
Results in faster troubleshooting, reduced downtime, and optimized operational efficiency

Avangrid, a leading energy company and member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced that it has deployed a new solution built to transform field operations, resulting in faster troubleshooting and optimized operational efficiency. The solution, called First Time Right Autopilot (patent pending), puts the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) into the hands of Avangrid field technicians to help them efficiently identify and resolve issues on wind turbines, putting the turbines back into service more quickly and ensuring these facilities continue to generate electricity for homes, businesses, and industry across the country.

The process begins when a field technician encounters an issue. They immediately engage the AI-powered autopilot integrated into their mobile device through voice or text. First Time Right Autopilot gathers pertinent information to narrow down the problem’s nature and scope before providing the technician with detailed, step-by-step instructions, often supplemented with relevant documentation or instructional videos. It effectively puts a seasoned engineer next to the technician who can guide them through the diagnostic process.

“The First Time Right Autopilot is the perfect example of Avangrid and Iberdrola leading the way when it comes to innovation in our sector,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “By leveraging generative AI to provide real-time, expert-level support, we are empowering our technicians with the tools they need to improve reliability and efficiency within our fleet. This is a testament to our commitment to shaping the future of energy through continuous innovation and technological advancement."

This transformative tool was built using Amazon Bedrock, AWS’s service that offers a choice of high-performing foundation models (FMs) from leading AI companies. Avangrid trained FM models with its extensive knowledge base of Operations and Maintenance advanced engineering guides and processes. The result is a powerful tool that helps field personnel make informed decisions faster and maximizes operational performance.

“We are excited to work with Avangrid and Iberdrola to create immediate business value with our industry-leading generative AI technology,” said Joseph Santamaria, Director, Solutions Architect, AWS Energy. “AI, and Generative AI in particular, are transforming the Power and Utility industry, from grid operations and asset management to worker safety and back-office efficiencies, with the collaboration between Avangrid and AWS being a leading example.”

First Time Right Autopilot has been deployed to two Avangrid wind plants, one in Iowa and another in New York.

“We were one of the first within Avangrid to use First Time Right Autopilot and it demonstrated good performance for our technicians,” said Ryan Haley, senior manager of field operations at Avangrid. “It is a very promising tool that will get even better as we train the AI models with more information.”

KeyFacts Energy: Avangrid Renewables US country profile  

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